Trousers-press.



PATENTED OCT. '31, 1905.

A. E. RAPPEL.

TROUSERS PRESS.

APPLIOATION FILED MAY 20,1905.

www RS @SESS ALOYSIUS E.HAPPE wim/5885s.-

ATTORNEYS l UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TROUSERS-PRESS.

Speccatonof Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 31, 1905.

Application filed May Z0` 1905. Serial No. 261,345.

T0 all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, ALoYsIUs E. HAPPEL, a citizen of the United States, residing at Elmhurst, in the county of Dupage and State of Illinois, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Trousers Presses and Stretchers, of which the Yfollowing is a specification.

My invention is in the nature of a trousers press and stretcher for pressing and creasing trousers. I

It relates to that form of trousers press and stretcher in which the trousers are laid between two flat boards provided with fastening devices for clam ping them together upon opposite sides of the trousers.

The object of my invention .is to provide a form of trousers-press of this general character which shall be adapted to be placed under the bedclothes or mattress on which the person lies, so that the weight of the person in sleeping will supply the necessary pressure and warmth to neatly press and preserve the shape of the trousers.

With the above-object in view it consists in press-plates made of flexible and waterproof material, such as vulcanized fiber or oil-board, combined with. a special form of fastening which will not rust and soil the bedclothes or-trousers nor become tangled in nor tear the clothes nor have such projection as to make lying on the same uncomfortable.

Figure l is an outside view with the press closed. Fig. 2 is an inside View with the press open, the position of the trousers between the same being indicated in dotted lines; and Fig. 3 is a transverse section on line 3 3 of Fig. 2 on a somewhat larger scale.

In the drawings, A A represent the two press-plates, which are made of very thin, tough, iieXible, and waterproof material, such as sheets of vulcanized fiber or oilboard. One of the plates A has riveted to it on the back side along its edges a series of flat leather straps o, in the ends of which are seated cupshaped sockets b. The other section A of the plate has riveted in it spring-bulbs c, which are adapted to be received in the cup-shaped sockets bwhen the latter are pressed down upon the same, after the manner of the wellknownglove-fastener. I prefer this form of fastening because it does not project from the 'the bedclothing or the trousers.

plates far enough to make lying on the same uncomfortable and for the further reason that this fastening is overlaid by the strap, so that the fastening cannot catch in and tear either Furthermore, there is a special correlation between the thin flexible and tough plates and these fastenings in that the fastenings can be directljT riveted in these plates and lie for the most in the plane of the same, which again helps to avoid undue projection of the fastenings and yet makes a very strong anchorage.

In inserting the trousers the straps on one side only are opened and the upper plate folded back, as in Fig. 2, the straps along the other edge acting as hinges. The trousers are then smoothly laid in between the plates and the straps fastened down to pinch and hold the plates together. The plates, it will be seen, are large enough to completely inclose the waist as well as the legs of the trousers. The trousers-press containing the trousers is then laid under the mattress or under a quilt above the mattress in position to be lain upon by the occupant of the bed, and while the individual sleeps the weight of his body presses his trousers for next day. When the trousers are thus in press, the warmth and natural moisture of the air in bed furnishes a suiiicient softening and bending of the thin plates to make them conform in a measure to the body, relieving all discomfort, and at the same time supplies to the trousers something of the effect of the sponging and heating of the trousers by the tailors pressing-iron, but without producing any shiny effect, as there is no rubbing action or glossing of the ber. There are, furthermore, no loose or detachable parts in my device.

I am aware that press-plates of rigid boards are old and that the fastenings shown have also been used heretofore for other uses; but there is a special correlation between the material of the press-plates and these fastenings which adapts my device to the new use described.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

. l. A trousers press and stretcher consisting of two press-plates made of thin waterproof IOO and ilexible material and iiat fastening' devices to adapt the same to be lain on in the bed substantially as described.

2. A trousers press and stretcher consisting of two press-plates, made of thin Waterproof and exible material adapted to be laid in the bed, one press-plate having along its edges spring-bulbs riveted in the same, and the other press-plate having flexible straps along its edges, said flexible straps ycarrying sockets I0 adapted to be sprung over the bulbs and overlying the same, substantially as described.

-ALOYSIUS E. HAPPEL. Witnesses:

H. C. SCHUMACHER, THOMAS HOGAN. 

